Topic: Does oil rule the world?

Target group

2nd‑grade student of high school and technical school, basic programme

Core curriculum

XI. Industry: location factors, traditional industry and advanced technologies, deindustrialisation and reindustrialisation, energy production structure and energy balance, changes in the use of individual energy sources, dilemmas for the development of nuclear energy.

Student:

5) assesses the state and changes in the energy balance of the world and Poland, presents the effects of the growing demand for energy, its impact on the geographical environment and justifies the need to take measures to limit the growth rate of energy consumption.

General aim of education

You will explain why the energy demand is increasing and the consequences of dependence on fossil fuels will be given.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• explain the changes in energy demand in the modern world;

• present the structure of the use of energy resources;

• give the consequences of dependence on fossil fuels;

• explain what the phrase means: oil rules the world.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• physical map of the world;

• geographical atlases.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher gives students the topic and goals of the lesson.

• Students use brainstorming to discuss the „why is the need for energy growing?.

• The teacher writes on the interactive whiteboard the most interesting statements of students of the mental map.

Realization

• The teacher displays a diagram on the multimedia board from the e‑manual „Energy consumption and population in the world” and the scheme „Share of continents in energy production and consumption”. Joint analysis, drawing conclusions. Discussion.

• Work in pairs. Students using the textbook, materials on the Internet and geographical atlases look for countries that use more energy than they are able to produce themselves. The indicated couples discuss the reasons for this situation. They locate the examples discussed on the map. Then they search for countries that have surplus energy. They give reasons for this state and indicate the country's data on the map.

• The teacher displays a diagram from an e‑book on the multimedia board: Structure of energy sources. Analysis of developing countries such as Congo, Angola and highly developed countries - Japan. Students use different sources to show the causes of the visible structure.

• Analysis of data from the table from the e‑manual „States with the largest and the lowest dependence on imported energy. Students locate countries in a geographical atlas. Common discussion. Determining the causes.

• Using the METAPLAN problem method (What is it ?, It should be? Why it is not as it should be? Conclusions.The students work in designated groups and refer to the thematic area Does oil rule the world? Each group presents its answers to the questions posed..

• Students using geographical atlases look for areas where the largest amounts of crude oil are found. They use the Internet to provide a percentage of the world's oil resources of the regions or countries concerned.

• Students explain the role of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and which countries to this organization belong to.

• Displays a diagram. Percentage share in global oil production and consumption of selected countries. Analysis of sample countries such as the USA, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and France. Students are trying to indicate the reasons for the large differences between these countries in the consumption and production of oil. Discussion.

• Using the METAPLAN problem method (What is it ?, It should be? Why it is not as it should be? Conclusions.The students work in designated groups and refer to the thematic area Does oil rule the world? Each group presents its answers to the questions posed..

Summary

• The teacher evaluates the work of the selected group. He asks for self‑esteem of students regarding team cooperation and the task performed.

• At the end of the class, the teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard exercises that are performed by the whole class team.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Does oil rule the world?

We need more and more energy not only because the number of people in the world is constantly growing. The technologies we use, the new inventions, the measures aimed at making life easier, etc., require more energy, even if they are becoming less energy‑consuming. Energy consumption around the world is growing faster than population. The rapid growth of energy consumption is particularly evident in developing countries where economic development is accompanied by rapid population growth and economic progress.

Most natural resources are not distributed evenly across the Earth. This is also the case with energy raw materials. Therefore, there is a disproportion between the volume of energy production and energy consumption between continents.

North America has a similar proportion in both production and consumption. Asia and Europe consume more energy than they are able to produce themselves. In turn, Africa, countries (mainly Russia) and Pacific countries with Australia at the forefront produce more energy than they consume.

If the difference between the amount of energy used and the amount of energy produced is positive, it means that the region is dependent on the supply of energy raw materials. This is the case, for example, in Europe, which produces 8% of the world's energy but consumes almost twice as much –14%.j energii, ale zużywa niemal dwa razy więcej – 14%.

Between 1990 and 2010 the share of non‑renewable energy sources in the world energy sector almost did not change and amounted to about 84%. By 2040 their share is expected to decrease, but it will still be over 75%.

This is due, among other things, to the fact that the structure of energy production is changing as the economy develops: fossil fuels are becoming less and less important.

Dependence on fossil fuels has many consequences. In the case of coal mines, mine dumps are created and galleries collapse which causes land subsidence. Removal of mine water lowers the level of groundwaters and creates cones of depression. The extracted raw materials have to be transported, so railway lines, roads and pipelines are being built. The effects of combustion include dust, sulphur oxides that cause acid rain, carbon dioxide that (according to many opinions) increases the greenhouse effect and the acidification of the oceans.

The income for exporters is an economic consequence. This is particularly important in the case of developing countries that possess energy resources, and that usually do not have many other more profitable opportunities to obtain a foreign currency for which they can buy the necessary goods.

Another example of the political importance of oil is the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It consists of 12 countries, mainly from the Middle East, but also from Africa and South America. As they extract together approx. 40% of the world's oil and make decisions on the volume of production, they determine the price of oil on the global market. This in turn affects the costs of transporting and producing many goods, e.g. fuels, plastics, paints, plant protection products. Manufacturing and delivery costs determine the prices of products, and thus the sales volume. Even the impact of oil prices on interest rates has been observed. It can be concluded that oil prices have a great impact on economic growth.

The above examples give reasons to believe that oil still rules the world.